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First-time buyers should be allowed to access pension funds to purchase homes, say brokers A survey of financial advisers revealed that half of them believe struggling buyers should be able to access any pension funds they have to help them get a foothold in the property market First-time buyers should get access to their pension funds for property purchases, many financial advisers believe. A survey of brokers has revealed half are in favour of struggling -
Council expects plenty of applications for new affordable homes scheme in Cork Three- and four-bedroom houses at Clonmore, just north east of Mallow town centre, will be available under the scheme. A flood of first-time buyer applications is expected for a new affordable housing scheme in north Cork, where homes will be offered for sale at around 20% below the market rate. Cork County Council will begin accepting applications at 12pm on Monday, June 24, -
Mortgage gap now at record level as some homeowners are paying over €7,000 extra a year The gap between good value and expensive mortgages is now so wide that the highest rate in the market is double the lowest one. Mortgage rates now range from 3.45pc to over 7pc, according to the Irish Independent Doddl.ie Mortgage Switching Index for the first quarter of this year. It means some homeowners could be overpaying a record average €7,812 more -
The European Central Bank is on course to start cutting interest rates in June. Rates could be cut four times before the end of the year. Some commentators expect the so-called refinancing rate to come down from 4.5pc at present to 3pc by the end of the year. This would provide a huge boost the 180,000 homeowners on trackers, those on variable rates, people trapped with vulture funds that will not let them fix their -
How raising a mortgage deposit can take 2 years in some areas — and 28 years in others New figures show record number of new buyers getting home loans approved despite it taking years to save for deposit Record numbers of first-time buyers are getting approved for a mortgage – despite the fact that the average time it takes to save for a deposit is now close to five years. Figures from the banks show
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Central Bank expects housing completions to hit 35,000 this year A switch of construction workers from commercial schemes as the office market stalls will help ease constraints that have held back housing Economists at the Central Bank think new home completions will rise to 35,000 this year and increase further in 2025 and 2026. That would bring delivery in line with current Government targets but short of where many experts assess demand. In its latest Quarterly -
Homeowners face a €587 a month hike as they roll off their fixed rate mortgage Avant Money’s head of mortgages sees huge cost shocks in store – and his firm is positioning itself to take advantage of situation For most mortgage holders switching is the single biggest thing you can do to save money, says Brian Lande, head of mortgages at Avant Money. Photo: Jason Clarke Around €9bn worth of mortgages are set to roll
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Average mortgage rates fall for third month in a row Mortgage rates are up since last year but the average rate is down slightly in the past three months. Photo: Getty Mortgage rates have fallen for the third month in a row despite no major reductions in lending rates by the main banks. The average rate being paid for a new mortgage in December was 4.19pc, a decrease of 0.06 percentage points from the previous